Chapter 16

Dr. Robert Rankin waved tiredly as Nurse Tolliver sashayed out through the ER doors. They'd both pulled a double, but only he seemed to look like it; the normally sad and wistful-looking nurse had bounced her way through sixteen hours of continuous work all smiles, adding an uncharacteristic layer of pleasure to her usual efficiency. She even managed somehow to look saucy in her scrubs ... Robert wasn't into chunky girls, but something in the way she was making that ass of hers dance suddenly had his attention...

Louise Carter, the floor nurse, followed his gaze. "She's got a man, finally, it looks like..."

Robert quelled a flash of disappointment. "How can you tell?"

"She's got that freshly fucked look..." Louise's eyes lingered on the doctor's, waiting to see if he would take offense. Louise was black, generally narrow but a little thick in places -- and generally no-nonsense. "It seems like you never know about some of them until they turn up with that look; I imagine you guys spend a lot of time kicking yourselves when you realize you had your shot and you blew it..." She eyed him for another moment, and when it became apparent that he wasn't prepared to say anything, turned and swayed off, leaving Robert open-mouthed for the second time in thirty seconds.

'Christ!' Robert thought. 'Are all of the nurses suddenly in season or something? I'm going to have to pay more attention... ' Louise was undoubtedly correct about Tolliver -- and if he watched things closely, he might be able to catch her on the rebound. Nurses were a whole lot better catch than the kind of gold-digger he found in bars who started sniffing and howling when they heard the word 'doctor, ' but who generally didn't understand that a resident worked like a dog and was on call virtually constantly. They'd fall into bed with you the first couple of times, no problem, their eyes reflecting dollar signs -- but over time, having to put up with your odd hours and constant fatigue drove them off. Nurses understood and didn't complain when you wanted war-zone life-affirming sex and then six hours of sleep; they wanted that, too ... As for Louise -- was she teasing him, or was she also available for a roll in the hay? He thought she was married, but that hadn't stopped a few nurses he'd met -- and he'd never had a black woman...

Having done a double, Beth returned home at seven-thirty, and was in bed before eight; while she would have the day off, she would be on from three to eleven on Sunday. That being the case, it was easy for Toby to get the family car for a trip to the Flanders'.

Jean's Friday night had been less than pleasant; nothing makes you want sex like having had it recently, and her decision to avoid the situation had already cost her, given the rate at which the others were having their thirsts slaked. She was angry with Candace, both for her refusal to do what was right and for her machinations -- and although she couldn't admit it, the fact that Candace had apparently seduced Toby ran as an unacknowledged undercurrent to her resentment. Jean had tossed and turned, dreaming weird dreams in which Toby came to see her in prison for incredible conjugal visits -- a fine combination of lust and horror. She awoke on the ragged edge, not refreshed by sleep; she threw a heavy robe over her short nightie, brushed her hair and teeth, and staggered out to the kitchen for coffee. When it was done, she sat at the table, hugging her oversized mug, and tried to get her head together.

Rick had been up since eight-thirty, but he didn't want to be around when Toby got there. He snatched a cup and headed outdoors.

Lon arrived while Toby was still outside in the driveway. "Hey, Man!' he called out to his friend.

"Hey," Toby replied.

"Here to see Rick? He's grounded, you know."

"Yeah, I know. I'll probably come out and join you guys after, but first I have to talk to Jean," Toby sighed.

"You need to do more than that, Man," Lon pointed out. "You need to get her back on track!"

"What's THAT supposed to mean?" Toby demanded.

"Hey, easy!" Lon placated. "I mean you need to get her off the 'We're all gonna be jailbirds!' kick and get her to relax. Rick says she's bouncing off the walls; I figure she's missing that salami of yours..." He grinned.

"Maybe," Toby grunted. "Trouble is, she's right! This shit IS dangerous!"

"Okay -- but it isn't going to end, and we DON'T need her triggering the crash 'for our own good.' if you know what I mean..." Lon arched an eyebrow. "The martyrdom thing is worse than what WE'RE doing!"

Toby nodded. "I'll try to avoid that."

"Cool." Lon turned back to the car for his gym bag; it looked like he was gonna need it...

He'd caught up again by the time Jean answered the door. "Hi, Jean -- is Rick here?"

"Yes, Lon." Jean studied him a moment, then added, "He's out back."

"Cool." Lon stepped around her and broke for the back of the house without any further attempts at conversation; Toby was here -- HE could handle the third degree...

"Wow! Are you okay?" Toby asked Jean. She looked rough...

"I couldn't sleep a wink!" Jean replied. "And what little I DID sleep was full of such dreams..." She turned and headed back toward the kitchen, murmuring over her shoulder, "This whole pictures thing..."

" ... Will be all right," Toby finished.

"Really?" Jean was skeptical as she drew Toby a cup of coffee and put it down before him at the table before re-seating herself. "I don't see how..."

"They're secure," Toby assured her.

"But why take them in the first place?" Jean asked.

"It was necessary. Let me explain..."

Outside, Lon dropped his gym bag on the lounger next to the one where Rick was adding to his tan and started digging in it. "Hi, yourself!" Rick prodded.

"Sorry, Man," Lon apologized, then stopped what he was doing, looking up at his friend. "I want to make sure everything is in place to fix your problem."

"Yeah? Like what?" Rick demanded.

"Look, Man -- we need to bust your mama loose. Right now, she's busy freaking about pictures -- and she isn't even in any! Our best shot to cool her down is in there working on her -- but even if he gets her to cool out, it'll probably wear off. We're gonna need something more long-term..."

"Like?" Rick suspected that he wasn't going to like this...

Lon fished a camera out of the bag. "Like pics, Man."

"Shit," Rick grunted, disgusted. "That won't fix things!"

"Look, Man -- NOTHING will FIX things, as far as your mama's concerned -- but we can keep her from fighting everything and make her play ball if we've got some leverage on her. Eventually, she'll settle down -- and in the meantime, we'll be getting you out from under her thumb!"

"I don't like it," Rick argued -- but he wasn't pushing. "Is Toby in on this?"

"Nope," Lon replied. "I didn't want to mess with his head. We'll just let nature take its course and let Superdick roll over your mama -- and get a couple of quick pics of the result. Then when she starts giving everybody crap..."

Rick eyed Lon, thinking; he could see the upside of Lon's plan -- and the downside. The upside was that Mom would get off his back -- and maybe settle down a bit, once she got used to things. The downside? Lon. Toby knew technology and he knew enough to keep things safe and secure -- or at least hidden. Lon didn't; he wouldn't give any thought to it and even if he did, he didn't have the tools. That increased the dangers significantly -- and if Lon's mother got HER hands on them ... He addressed the downside directly, "What are you going to do with the pictures?"

Lon shrugged. "Show 'em to Jean, obviously."

"And after that?"

"Hide 'em somewhere, I guess."

"Dude, THAT's what's dangerous about pictures!" Rick pressed. "They need to go away, just as soon as they're used!"

Lon blinked. "We've got a ton of pictures!"

Rick eyed his friend. "Do we? Do you? Do you know who DOES have them?"

Lon scratched his head. "Mama?"

Rick shook his head. "Toby -- I think. That's good, because Toby knows how to encrypt them and such to keep nosy people from finding them. You don't know that stuff, Man -- and it's MY mom whose neck will be in the noose if your pics get out!"

"Maybe we can just wipe them, after..." Lon mused.

"THAT might be smart!" Rick agreed. "Prove we have 'em, then blow 'em away after Mom knuckles under..."

"Yeah..." Lon wasn't that thrilled, but he had to cover Rick, too. Besides, the threat would still be enough to push Jean into giving up some pussy to him, one way or another. Maybe he would find a way to keep them -- but if he didn't it was no loss, as long as Mama didn't find out ... Lon knew instinctively that his mother would want that hold on Jean if she could get it -- and just as instinctively, he figured that it was a bad idea. Beth was sorta different; it was almost like she wanted it that way -- but Jean just wouldn't put up with Mama riding her, and the situation would get unstable VERY QUICKLY! "If we do it that way, Man, we can't mention it to Mama. She'll shit a brick if she finds out we tossed something like that."

"Yeah," Rick agreed. "If it comes up, we'll tell Candace we faked it."

"Cool." Lon nodded. "Let's go check on them. Are we gonna try to do this in secret?"

"Probably."

"Can you turn off the flash, then?" Lon handed Rick the camera. Rick rolled his eyes; this was EXACTLY why he worried...

Inside, Toby and Jean had gotten down to business. "So what happened?" Jean asked.

Toby shrugged. "It all started when we went over to Lon's after the Mall. Candace was there and gave us a fine lecture about how you had some valid points, but you were taking things too far. She gave us some rules to live by to keep everyone out of trouble. Of course, she delivered this talk from the bathtub..."

"Great..." Jean sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah," Toby agreed. "By the time it was over, everybody was fired up. She sent Lon and Rick off to my house to see Ma, but she held me with this tale that she had some information that I needed to know..."

Jean rolled her eyes. "What was that? Her cup size?" she asked wearily.

"That was definitely part of it, but it turned out she really DID have something more important on her mind than seduction," Toby related. "It turned out that Ma had acted kind of strange with Lon, and Candace, who has done some off-the-wall stuff, recognized something." He sighed. "She was right to come to me about it -- but I almost took her head off!"

Jean's interest was thoroughly piqued. "Really? What was it?"

Toby started smearing the ring that his coffee cup left on the table top. "She started asking me questions -- penetrating questions -- about Ma's relationship with Pa. I saw things ... It was a sore point with me, so I got really angry when Candace started picking at the scabs -- and when she suggested that Ma might have asked for it, I almost slapped her!"

"Tell me." Jean's own concerns were set aside; this appeared to be more important. Her hand came out to take his.

It was difficult. "Pa ... did things to Ma. Regularly. He was seldom nice to her and called her all variety of names -- fool and idiot and a hundred nastier things -- but behind closed doors, he was violent with her. Brutal. And a lot of it was sexual. He would beat her and he would fuck her -- or she would suck him -- whatever; you get the idea. I saw it, many times, and I think Pa knew, but we didn't talk about it; Pa was gone before I was REALLY old enough to understand, never mind do anything about it..."

"Oh, you poor thing!" Jean was horrified! She got up and came around the table, pressing him against her, then going behind him to rub his back. These were undoubtedly terrible sights for a young child...

"There were ... excesses, too..." Toby ground on. "Pa would bring in other men -- and other women. Ma would have to..."

"My God!" Jean gasped. "Others, too?" She squatted before him, holding his head.

"Yes," Toby agreed. "I hated it, and I hated Pa for doing it. Like I said, it was a sore spot, buried. But Candace drew it right out, like she had seen it all or something -- asking me did Pa treat Ma badly? Was he violent with her? Did he abuse her sexually? Then she opened up with the idea that Ma might have gone along with it because she liked it! There was a moment there when I ... I don't think I've ever been so mad! But she explained things, and somewhere in the middle, something clicked, and I knew Candace was right!"

"Poor Baby!" Jean hugged him. "I'm sure that's not true..."

"No, it's true," Toby sighed. "I saw that it was, when I thought about it. And I figured that Ma must be sick in some way -- but Candace says that she's just different from a lot of people. Candace says she's been limping along since Pa left, sort of substituting me for some of her needs and doing without other things because she has such a low opinion of herself that she can't get up the guts to do what is necessary."

"No, no, Dear -- that's not true!" What kind of crap was Candace spewing?

But Toby took her head in his hands and locked eyes with her, replying, "It IS true! I've spoken to Ma about it, and it is clear!"

"Wh-what could she be using you for, then?" Jean asked.

"She needs someone to obey -- or at the very least, to do things for and give things to," Toby replied. "I was perfect for that." He smiled grimly. "Now, I'm even better at it -- you see, I've discovered that in some ways, I'm my father's son!"

"Oh, no! No!" 'God, he's totally screwed up!' Jean gasped to herself, pulling him to her.

"It's not that bad," Toby murmured, rubbing her back, then began kissing her neck. "I just discovered that I'm capable of ... dominating others..."

"What?" Jean's whole neck was electrified; shivers were running up and down her spine.

"Candace ... submitted to me," Toby replied softly, again kissing Jean's neck. "She didn't intend to, but sometime during our discussions, she did so. I think I scared her -- but there was more to it than that. It was more or less instinctive." Toby drew Jean in closer. "Apparently, I have Pa's talent for domination..."

"I'm sure that's ... not true," Jean gasped. Suddenly, she was hot and she was wet, and the things Toby was describing that he had done to Candace made her less of a threat and more of a sister.

"Well, she wanted something from me -- but she was in no position to force my hand," Toby murmured. "You see, she wanted to take control of Ma -- for her own good, of course..."

"Of course!" Jean rolled her eyes. The comment and her answer should have burst the romantic bubble that surrounded them, but it didn't. She couldn't escape -- and didn't want to! Somehow, Toby's hands got inside her robe -- and she lacked the will to stop him! Instead, she squatted before his chair while his hands roamed her body under the robe and listened to his soft voice in her ear.

"Well," he replied, "I allowed it -- but only if I maintained ultimate control over the situation. That appears to be possible; Candace hasn't wrestled it back yet. When we did have sex, it was on MY terms, not hers -- and she has been doing as I ask, ever since..."

"Lookin' good, Man!" Lon chuckled, watching the couple through the kitchen window. "I think he's got her on the run!"

Rick, watching over Lon's shoulder, agreed. "I wonder how he does it?"

"Dunno," Lon grunted. "But the dude we've been hangin' out with for the last couple of days isn't the Toby we're used to." He whipped up the camera and took a shot through the window. "This is good -- nobody can hear the shutter click."

"Well, I bet you won't get any money shots from here!" Rick murmured. "Mom doesn't have sex in the kitchen."

"Hey, you never know..." Lon replied.

"Want to make a bet?" Rick challenged.

"Sure," Lon grinned. "Five bucks says they don't do it in the bedroom."

"You're on!" Rick grinned. "In the meantime, we'd better figure out how we're gonna get pics when they go upstairs..."

"Shit! Got a ladder?" Lon queried.

Jean's head was fuzzy; tracking the conversation in the face of Toby's caresses was becoming difficult -- and squatting before him wasn't that comfortable, either! "I'm sure Candace is only doing what you ask because it's what she wants to do..."

Toby considered this. "Maybe, but if she is, she is going to some lengths. That's why I need you with me -- I need a second opinion ... Let's go in the den -- you're uncomfortable and we still need to talk." He rose from the chair, bringing Jean up with him, then led her off toward the den -- and its big leather couch.

"They're moving! Lon erupted.

"Which way?" Rick asked.

"Ummm, they don't seem to be headed for the stairs..."

"The den, then," Rick advised. "There is a front window, but the curtains could be closed -- and it's a little exposed for us..."

"C'mon!" Lon led the pair to the side gate.

Meanwhile, Toby settled Jean on the couch. He didn't go after the robe; he merely penetrated it as if it were Swiss cheese, pulling her to him, legs across his lap, and pushing a hand inside to continue his caresses.

Jean got back some control on the trip in, but she wasn't up to fighting with both Toby and her sensuous side; besides, Toby wasn't being pushy. -- in fact, part of her wanted him to move on... "Dear, what makes you think it is more than Candace just doing what it takes to please you in order to get her way?"

Toby lipped Jean's neck for a moment, then said, "In the first place, it's not Candace's way to bow to anybody, for any reason. In the second, well, I pressed her some, and she put up with it -- even doing new things..."

"Like what?" Jean asked. Salacious details might cause the situation to deteriorate further, but she HAD to know...

"Like the fact that I controlled things when we had sex -- I actually denied her an orgasm on two or three occasions! And I got her to deep-throat me -- which is apparently something totally new..." Toby replied, then went back to attacking Jean's neck.

"Really?" Jean was amazed -- That didn't sound ANYTHING like the Candace she knew! "Wow! Either she wants to control Beth REALLY BAD, or..." Or what? Or Toby could control Candace like a puppet on a string? "If she's going to bend over backwards for you..."

Toby saw where Jean's thought process was going. "I can use her, of course -- but that doesn't fulfill my needs. Candace, well, isn't my type. I can use her for sex, but..."

"Dear," Jean sighed, "that's all you should do with EITHER of us!" But her heart raced...

"Maybe," Toby agreed, "but I have other needs, too. I don't need a mistress, and I don't need a slave -- I need a partner -- someone I can trust..."

This was just what Jean wanted to hear; to date, all of her sexual activity had been within the framework of a relationship. Even her sex with Toby two days before hadn't been 'stranger sex', and had been approached romantically. Jean knew that her reaction was irrational, but that didn't keep it from happening; a warm rush enveloped her. "I'll be here for you," she promised fervently.

At that point, things drifted away from conversation; Toby's hug of gratitude brought Jean in close and she just didn't leave! She knew it was wrong, somewhere in the back of her mind, but she had lived in denial too long and she remembered all too well the value of what Toby was offering ... His lips electrified her neck and her body yearned for his touch; it was too much for the rational side of her to resist! "Oooohhhh..." she moaned and leaned in to return his touch, satisfying her hands with the feel of his lean flanks under his T-shirt.

"Can you see?" Rick asked.

"Yeah," Lon replied, distracted. The opening in the drapes was big enough not to interfere with the camera lens and the sun was obliging him by ducking behind some somewhat ominous clouds -- a summer shower was in the making -- and the huge, untrimmed rhododendron in front of the window shielded himself and Rick from casual observation. Now it was time to see if Toby could turn the trick -- right there in the den, preferably! He got a shot of Toby and Jean, clinched, their hands wandering under each other's clothing -- not absolutely damning, but suggestive -- and dropped back to show Rick. "Think the light is good enough?"

Rick took the camera and brought the picture up on the LED screen for viewing. "Yeah. Not exactly studio quality, but enough to scare Mom -- especially if they get going..." He handed the camera back to Lon, who repositioned himself just in time to catch Jean and Toby's first kiss.

If they had been working on serious rules of engagement for their activity, kissing would have been out -- it's too romantic for fuck-buddies and hookers. But Jean and Toby -- especially Jean -- had emotional needs, and the planned roles had flown out the window moments before. The kiss, more or less blundered into as the pair shifted targets, started chaste but rapidly evolved into a full-fledged tongue-duel that neither of them cared to break off. That meant that Toby had to learn to breathe while kissing; his lack of practice at it forced the first disengagement as he totally ran out of air... "Wow!" he gasped, sucking in a lungful of air.